Niketas proedros (=bishop) of Makre (twelfth century)
Obverse
The Virgin seated on a high-backed throne, holding medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: ΜΡ̅Θ̅. : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, cross above. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑΓΙΣ
ΝΙΚΗΤΑΤ
ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΥ
ΤΗΣΜΑ
ΚΡΗΣ
Σφραγὶς Νικήτα τοῦ προέδρου τῆς Μάκρης
Obverse
The Virgin seated on a high-backed throne, holding medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: ΜΡ̅Θ̅. : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, cross above. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑΓΙΣ
ΝΙΚΗΤΑΤ
ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΥ
ΤΗΣΜΑ
ΚΡΗΣ
Σφραγὶς Νικήτα τοῦ προέδρου τῆς Μάκρης
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.5021 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 21.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 56.2a. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς Νικήτα τοῦ προέδρου τῆς Μάκρης.
Seal of Niketas, bishop of Makre.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- La région des Rhodopes aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles: étude de géographie historique (Open in Zotero)
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The inscription consists of a twelve-syllable verse. Laurent did not recognize the medallion of Christ on the obverse and read the reverse inscription as Σφραγὶς Νικήτα τοῦ προέδρου τῆς νήσου Ῥόδου.
Makre of the Rhodopes is located about eight miles west of Alexandroupolis, opposite the island of Samothrace. The town was a bishopric at least as early as 879 and appears in Darrouzès, Notitiae, 285, line 597, and in subsequent lists until the thirteenth century, as a suffragan of Traïanoupolis. It became a metropolis for a short time in the fourteenth century: Laurent, Corpus V/1, 526; Asdracha, Rhodopes, 117-18, 194, 238; BNJ 23 (1979) 30-31.
A homonym was Makre of Lykia, a suffragan of Myra. Since both were simple bishoprics it is difficult to distinguish one see from the other. We note, however, that our seals of Niketas and Nikephoros appear to be of the late eleventh-twelfth century and as such should belong to bishops of Makre of the Rhodopes.